Loughlin Deegan's play is set in a fictional pub in south London that is frequented by a group of "Hiberno queers" - gay Irishmen who fled the restrictions of their native country years ago. They remain unaware of both the economic boom and the growing acceptance of homosexuality that is happening back home. When Willie, a swaggering twentysomething gay Dubliner, chances into their midst, he likens them to the lost Japanese soldiers who didn't realise the second world war had been over for decades: "Haven't youse heard of Temple fuckin' Bar?"
Gay issues have rarely been confronted openly in Irish drama, and Deegan's youthful forthrightness (this is only his second full-length play) is refreshing. Formally, however, the play feels old-fashioned: it's meat-and-potatoes, plot- and character-driven stuff, and there's a sense that the formula is getting in the way of a truly individual voice shining through.
Things start out well in the first act, where the dialogue is both believable and witty. We meet Gertie (Tony Flynn), the transvestite hustler who runs his business from the bar; tonight, he has young Willie (Darragh Cunningham) in tow, having picked him up in a disco the night before. In walks sad, square Paul (Charlie Bonner), who looks after former pub regular Ciaran, who is dying in an Aids hospice. Bob the barman (John Hewitt) has his own problems to deal with: there are mysterious letters arriving from the brewery that will eventually mean an end to this makeshift family.
Mounting crises ensue - and so do classic second-act problems. The play feels overwritten as each character's story is fleshed out, and there are too many false endings before the real one. Under Jim Nolan's direction, however, the performances are terrific; in particular, Flynn's revelation of the sad truth under Gertie's flamboyant exterior is woundingly convincing. An interesting if flawed play in an excellent production - and an emerging writer to watch.
